This is in response to your inquiry (98-21) in which you seek a determination by
this committee whether a part-time judge-attorney should be disqualified in the
representation of a party in a matrimonial case pending before you, on th ground that
the judge had presided over matters as a Town Justice involving the same parties in
which matters allegedly related to issues in the pending matrimonial action were
present.

At issue is the application of section 100.6(B) of the Rules Governing Judicial
Conduct, which states that a part-time judge-lawyer “shall not act as a lawyer in a
proceeding in which the judge has served as a judge or in any other proceeding
related thereto” 22 NYCRR 100.6(B)(2). As you state in your letter, the Committee
invoked that provision in Opinion 96-144 (Vol. XIV).

Notwithstanding the rule and Opinion 96-144, the committee is not in a
position to render an opinion in this instance. As a general rule, the Committee
provides opinions only at the request of judges (or candidates for judicial office) who
seek advice as to ethical questions involving their own conduct. Your letter does not
present such a question. Rather, it involves the conduct of another judge which
purportedly violates one of the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct.

Accordingly, the Committee declines to issue an opinion in response to your
inquiry.